How Do I Get More Sales Referrals?

Every single customer you have can be a useful source of referrals. You can use your satisfied customers to introduce you to their contacts and network. Customers who have benefited from your product or service are usually more than happy to refer you to their colleagues, friends, family and acquaintances.

Although you may occasionally receive unprompted referrals as a result of helping customers to get what they want, the wise salesperson makes securing referrals a part of their regular selling habits.

Here are some ideas on how to get more referrals:

You need to get the customer into the right mental mind-set to recall people who they can refer you to and here are some ways to achieve this:

“Mr Customer, you have been in (industry/business e.g IT) for many years. I guess that you have met lots of other (insert trade/position e.g. IT Directors) haven’t you? If I asked you to write down the details of four or five of these people you could do that couldn’t you?”

Please not the use of “If I asked you…” The “If” softens the request. You are not directly asking him to write them down; you are merely exploring the possibility that they might!

“Please can I ask your advice? Which one should I approach first to tell them how they can benefit?”

The customer will usually offer a name.

“It’s alright to use your name so they can take my call, isn’t it?”

If the customer is comfortable and receptive then you can ask for further names.

Another variation that you can use is:

“Would you happen to know two or three people who might be interested in our product or service?” 

The customer will usually say they know two people.

“Would you have their telephone numbers?”

The customer will usually reply yes.

“Which one would you contact first?

The customer will tell you the name of the person, let’s say his name is Phil.

“Can I ask you a huge favour? Would you call Phil and tell him I’m coming over to see him?”

This is a rather bold approach, but in the right situation it does get great results.  Remember that fortune favours the brave!

A slightly less bold approach is to ask the customer to write down the referral details on the back of your business card along with a personal message such as, “This product has been very useful for me.”

When you get your appointment with the new prospective customer (having used the name of your existing customer who referred you) you can give them your business card as usual and then ask them to turn it over and read the message written to them on the back. This gets the sales process of to a positive start.

Referrals are an easy and effective way to get lots of new customers from your existing customers.

When these new customers sign up for your product and service they, in turn, generate a new set of referrals and so the process continues.

Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.

He is the bestselling author of five business books:

·   Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success

·   Bare Knuckle Selling

·   Bare Knuckle Negotiating

·   Bare Knuckle Customer Service

·  The Inner Winner

To learn more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:

www.simonhazeldine.com

To subscribe to Simon's hard hitting "Selling and Negotiating Power Tips newsletter please visit:
www.SellingAndNegotiatingPowerTips.com

To subscribe to Simon's "Neuro-Sell" newsletter please visit:
www.neuro-sell.com

7 Vital Things For Sales Professionals To Do In A Customer’s Lobby

When they arrive at a customer’s premises and wait in the lobby or foyer far too many sales people miss out on golden opportunities to maximise their chances of sales success.

Don’t waste your time sitting down drinking coffee  - keep your eyes and ears open for information that might be useful and do things that will help you to close the sale, including:

Read copies of the customer’s internal magazine if they have one.  Internal magazines are great sources of information about things that are happening inside their organisation. They contain things that the senior leadership want to communicate to employees and as a result they are goldmines of useful information.  Many organisations leave copies in their foyer and other public areas.

Read copies of the customer’s annual report (again frequently displayed in public areas). You can also download copies from most large companies’ websites – essential reading for sales professional!

Read copies of any leaflets and posters on display.  Often companies will put their own promotional material in their foyer and this is a great chance for you to learn more about what they are selling.

Take note of any awards, trophies or photographs on display. If they have been displayed then the customer thinks that they are important, and you need to take note of them.

Pay attention to who is coming into reception from other companies. Where are they from and who are they going to see?  Sit close enough to reception so that you can see and hear easily.

Build rapport with the receptionist and security guard. Treat them with respect, ask their name and then use it (most people treat them with indifference which is a big mistake).  Over time as they get to know you, they can be very useful sources of information and will sometimes tell you things that they shouldn't!

Stay standing up! If people are feeling powerful they will often adopt what are called “high power poses” – open, expansive postures and gestures.   One very powerful non-verbal display of power is to stand with your hands on your hips with your elbows out.  When combined with a wide stance (the more space between our legs the stronger we appear), this is a very commanding and territorial display.  You will see this posture adopted by people in leadership and authority positions such as army drill sergeants and police officers.  
By contrast when people are feeling less confident and powerful they use “low power poses” that is more closed postures, folding their arms, hunching their shoulders, making themselves appear smaller by collapsing the body inwards.

In a series of fascinating experiments researchers took saliva samples from test subjects (both men and women) to measure their testosterone (what is called the “dominance hormone”) and cortisol (what is called the “stress hormone” levels.  Some test subjects were then asked to adopt “high power poses” (standing upright in a confident manner) and some were asked to adopt “low power poses” (sitting down in a hunched posture).  Each test subject adopted the relevant poses for two minutes. 

A second saliva sample was then taken and the results compared with the first.  High power poses caused an increase in testosterone of about 19% and a decrease in cortisol levels of about 25%.  Low power poses caused a decrease in testosterone and an increase in cortisol. In short, the high power poses made the person feel more powerful and their hormone levels prove it. 

So do not sit down whilst waiting to be collected from the customer’s foyer or lobby, or for the negotiation to commence. Stay standing up in and adopt a powerful and confident posture.  Standing up also keeps your energy levels higher and means that when the customer meets you for the first time you are at eye level.  In the animal kingdom the alpha male tends to sit or lie on higher ground than the more subordinate members of the pack.  Standing up when greeted means that you are not “lower” than the customer when you first meet them. 

With all of this to do you just haven’t got time to sit on your backside drinking coffee!

Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.

He is the bestselling author of five business books:

·   Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success

·   Bare Knuckle Selling

·   Bare Knuckle Negotiating

·   Bare Knuckle Customer Service

·  The Inner Winner

To learn more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:

www.simonhazeldine.com

To subscribe to Simon's hard hitting "Selling and Negotiating Power Tips newsletter please visit:
www.SellingAndNegotiatingPowerTips.com

To subscribe to Simon's "Neuro-Sell" newsletter please visit:
www.neuro-sell.com

Ten Powerful Negotiating Tips That Will Help You Close The Deal!

One
Set your negotiation objectives – aim high! Research shows a strong link between ambitious goals and higher levels of performance.  Make sure you write your negotiation goals down.  The act of committing them to paper will maximise your chances of achieving them. 

Two
Know your LIM.  Have a range for your negotiation objectives.  LIKE is your ideal outcome, INTEND is your realistic assessment    of what is possible, MUST is your absolute walk away point – and you must know what this is before your start negotiating.

Three
Know your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement).  This is your Plan B, your contingency plan should you not be able to secure the deal.  Having a BATNA is a good source of power and stops you coming across as too needy in the negotiation.

Four
Ask lots of direct questions and listen the answer.  Effective negotiators ask effective questions.  Plan the information you need to gather and your questions in advance.
     
Five
Give them a good listening to!  Research shows that effective negotiators seek information almost twice as much as they give information.

Six
Seek information – Give information.  Before you can bargain effectively you need to understand the others sides needs, wants, desires, fears, priorities and timescales.  You will also need to communicate what is important to you too!

Seven
Understand their motives and what they want. Get out of your head and get inside their head.  See the world through their eyes.

Eight
Focus on underlying needs rather than positions.  Behind every position, demand, request or question lays a need.  What is it?

Nine
Summarise regularly.  Summaries help to keep the negotiation on track and encourage a sense of progress. If in doubt – summarise.

Ten
Give To Get!  There is nothing wrong with giving so long as you get something back of equal or greater commercial value in return. Trade low cost for high value (and vice versa).  Look for things you can offer that cost you little but could mean a lot to the other party.  For example, you could do the deal very quickly and meet their pressing deadline.  It won’t cost you anything extra to move quickly but it may be essential to them!

Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.

He is the bestselling author of five business books:

·   Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success

·   Bare Knuckle Selling

·   Bare Knuckle Negotiating

·   Bare Knuckle Customer Service

·  The Inner Winner

To learn more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:

www.simonhazeldine.com

To subscribe to Simon's hard hitting "Selling and Negotiating Power Tips newsletter please visit:
www.SellingAndNegotiatingPowerTips.com

To subscribe to Simon's "Neuro-Sell" newsletter please visit:
www.neuro-sell.com

Ten Powerful Tips For Your Next Big Sales Pitch

One
Think very carefully about exactly what want the client (or potential client) to say, feel, believe or do as a result of your sales pitch.  What are the specific results you want to achieve?  What is the next action that you want the client to take after your sales pitch?

Two
When designing your sales pitch always start with the client and not by talking about you and your products and services. Start by demonstrating that you understand the client’s aims and objectives.

Three
A powerful pitch structure is:

            Client’s aims / objectives
            Client’s needs / problems (Where they are now)
            Client’s success criteria (Where they want to be)
            How you can help the client move from where they are now to where they
            want to be.
            Case studies / testimonials about how you have done this for other clients.
            Investment required from them.
            Suggested action / implementation plan

Four
Does your pitch answer the questions:

Why should the client buy from you?
Why should the client only buy from you?  
What are your points of differentiation?
What is the most important thing you want the client to remember about you?

Five
Less is more!  Keep your pitch as short and punchy as possible.
Too many sales pitches are too long, too self-indulgent and too boring.

Six
What is your main message – the most important thing you want to client to remember? 
Repeat this three times during your pitch.

What are your three key points?  If you include any more than three then the client is likely to forget.
What facts do you have to back up what you claim?

Seven
Do you have a story about how you have helped another client (preferably as similar to the client you are pitching to) to achieve the results they wanted?

Introduce the client character, describe the problems they were experiencing, show how you provided the solution they needed and then describe the results they achieved.

Eight
Can you create curiosity right at the start of your sales pitch?  A curious client is very attentive and receptive. One method you can use to create curiosity is to tell them some of the things that you are going to reveal during the sales pitch and then to tell the client about these at different stages as the sales pitch progresses. 

For example, “As we progress I am going to show you three tried and tested and proven ways that we can deliver exactly the results you are looking for and provide you with rock-solid evidence of our capability.”

Nine
Provide clarity and contrast about the difference the client will experience as a result of working with you or from buying your product and service.  Make it very clear and specific.

Ten
A confused client never buys. Limit choice if you want them to make a decision. Provide and clear choice and next action and give the client something to buy. 

Good luck and good selling!

Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.

He is the bestselling author of five business books:

·   Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success

·   Bare Knuckle Selling

·   Bare Knuckle Negotiating

·   Bare Knuckle Customer Service

·  The Inner Winner

To learn more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:

www.simonhazeldine.com

To subscribe to Simon's hard hitting "Selling and Negotiating Power Tips newsletter please visit:
www.SellingAndNegotiatingPowerTips.com

To subscribe to Simon's "Neuro-Sell" newsletter please visit:
www.neuro-sell.com